Read about technology, the Internet, and related topics

Monthly Archives: August 2014

You’re most likely familiar with solar panels. It is one of the alternatives to traditional sources of energy. PV industries are on the rise since the energy we get from the sun is available anywhere in unlimited quantities, also causing less pollution. Many organizations, and even private individuals, are switching to solar. Photovoltaics, or PV, are a technique for generation solar power. There are several guidelines that may change electrical property of a solar panel. It is important to have certain tools at hand to be able to monitor and modify these properties, and obtain exact pv panel characterization.

Scrabble is one of the many popular word games, if not the most, that has probably squeezed many players’ vocabulary to its limit. After all, in this game, you don’t get to use any letter you like in making words to fit whatever is on the board. You can only draw seven tiles of letters still unknown. You’ll have to combine these letters to make a word that gives you the highest score possible. However, in the middle of the game, many players end up with tiles they find useless like Q, Z, X, and J. Sometimes, they end up with only consonants and find it impossible to make a word. Therefore, it is really important to increasevocabulary and know when best to use each tile to improve your Scrabble game. You can painstakingly memorize the Official Scrabble Players’ Dictionary cover to cover or try out the tips in this article.

Balance the Tiles on Your Rack

Don’t just put on the board the first word that comes to your mind. You have to think and plan carefully of your every move. If you don’t, you might end up with a rack full of consonants. Most players’ goal is to keep a rack balanced with four consonants and three vowels – to make composing words easy.

Also, avoid keeping tiles of the same letter on your rack. For example, in a game where there is very few E tiles on the board, the word you are about to put is “sand.” If you have an E tile on your rack, consider putting “send” instead because there is a high chance that you’ll draw an E tile after your turn. To keep your rack balanced, avoid keeping tiles of the same letter like E which has twelve tiles of itself in the bag and only scores a point.

Plan ahead

The game may be unpredictable because you do not know what tile you will get from the bag after every turn but it is still advisable to plan ahead of time. Think of long words that you can construct with the letters you have as of the moment. If possible, try making a word that uses all seven of your tiles. This is called a bingo and will give you a very high score plus bonus points. If one or more of your tiles end upon a box that doubles or triples the score, well, it is your luck day. As a matter of fact, you can strategize to get these double and triple word scores. You need only to plan ahead.

If you still cannot make a word with seven letters, save A, E, I, N, R and S. These are the most common letters to make a bingo.

The J, Q, X, and Z tiles

These tiles are not really found in many words so they are very hard to use. Usually, when you get one of these, that tile gets stuck on your rack leaving you with only six to work with. You end up making random words because you become desperate to draw tiles useful in making a word with a J, X, or Z. Worse, when you get a Q, you need a U which has only four tiles of itself.

The solution to this is to widen your vocabulary. Look for words that have a J, X, Q, or Z in it. You can also memorize words with Q which does not need a U. Words such as Mbaqanga, Qadi, Qanat, and QWERTY are legal as they are listed in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition. The letter S can also be added to most of these words.

Racks with Vowels only or Consonants only

List down and memorize words with many vowels to avoid a rack that has only vowels on it. Adieu, eerie, and queue are perfect examples.

If you end up with consonants only, a list of words with vowels is really going to be helpful. You just have to memorize it beforehand. One downer is that most of it requires a Y but not all. Examples are psst, cysts, glycyls, myrrh, and rhythm.

More Tips

Avoid letting other players get the double and triple word scores. Remember to plan ahead on how to get your words to these bonus-giving boxes.

Also, aside from the special words discussed in this article previously, read on words that are made up of only two letter – they can help you especially during desperate times. You can also use the Scrabble Word Finders to easily form words with the tiles you have. Enjoy!

If you have been an Internet user for some time just like I have been one already for a couple of years, you know that there’s a war going on on the Internet. I am thinking here about the war between hackers and computer programmers.

It seems that no matter what programmers do, hackers come up with newer and newer ways to hack. This war has been going on for some time and I am not sure that anything indicates that the war is going to end any time soon. All I can say is that we need more people to fight those malicious hackers whose only goal is to steal our personal information and our money.

Are you looking for a serious kids’ excitement? What about giving them a run of scrabble? Why not? Extend your idea of fun while bonding with the children. The easy play, cool challenge, and the playful features of the game made it perfectly compatible with the juniors. What is scrabble? And how it matches the playing mood of the youngsters? Here’s how.

Scrabble: The Origin

A trademark board game designed by a bored architect in the name of Alfred Mosher Butts and published by his friend James Brunot for commercial use in 1948. This is a game of words represented in tiles by 2 or more players. The game is done in a crossword puzzle fashion where players get to take turn placing words on the bored and earns corresponding scores.

Scrabble: Who Wins and Who Losses

The winner is determined after all the tiles are picked up and made into words until no comprehensive tile combination is left available. Constant practice of the game will lead to excellent playing. The trick on concentrating to work on difficult terms which usually start with J, Q, X, and Z comes from the idea that there are just very few of these tiles in a set. Plus, these have high-points equivalent.

Scrabble: Cheat Sheet

Several Scrabble Word Finders have been created to easily help a player locate words derived from lists of scrabble words. When you are playing online and not face to face with the other players, you get the chance to load the letters in your rack and have a cheat application generate the word for you. This smart mechanism will then make you appear smart when you come up with a bright word.

Scrabble: Terms of Agreement

Challenging an illegal word should be discussed by players before the game starts. All should come up with one agreement as to what single reference will be used to check and validate unknown words. Penalties may also be agreed so as to make sure everyone is aligned. This is where everyone commits on which will justify illegal and legal terms so players don’t just go about creating unusual and inexistent terms.

Now, what does this have to do with our children?

Children: The Origin

Their curious age make them eager to learn. The game stimulates education, specifically, vocabulary. Their problem-solving skills are honed as they attempt to come up with words given a short period of time set in a difficult scenario. At the same time, cognitive and motor skills are developed as they use their hands and eyes as they distinguish the board and tiles color and form.

Children: Who Wins and Who Losses

The drive to win and the spirit of sports are encouraged in this game as nobody would want to end up a loser. This helps children think of workarounds to eventually conclude the game as a winner. He who easily gives up will technically lose, while he who continues to work on his tiles, will likely win.

Children: Cheat Sheet

Logical tricks and techniques are learned as the game is played regularly. Certain scenarios are tried and tested, until it proves to become a winning formula. Applications and possible systems and word generating mechanisms are tried and looked upon by children. This is when they get to be creative with tools.

Children: Terms of Agreement

The concept of mutual understanding and coming up to a stalemate is practiced in their early years through this game. They learned to know the difference between legal and illegal terms and they would tend to come up with an amicable settlement. They will also learn to consider and accept penalties as a rule, in case they fail in a specific challenge.

This is exactly how children and scrabble becomes a perfect match. The similar factors present in both parties are complimentary with each other, thus, major fun is a guarantee when kids in their junior years make the world renowned game of all time a habit. The benefits it gives covers learning and development, problem solving strategies, mature and just predicament, and wise decision making without giving up the excitement and thrill the game initially possesses. These and a few other things about scrabble can make children maximize their educational potential provided they make it a learning instrument.

In the digital age, people rarely think about grades or types of paper, unless they have dedicated careers in publishing. For most people, the use of anything printed that requires paper will only start the search for standard copy paper suppliers who can give them standard copy paper.

For those who understand the subtle differences, however, only branded products- White Paper Co. quality, will be considered. They are writers, publishers, teachers, marketing professionals or others who understand the potential impact of quality presentations. Paper is not just a medium for distributing words and images. It is a means of making a good impression. Good paper leaves a good impression.

The environmentally conscious user appreciates paper that has been recycled. It is printing with a conscience. This paper is made from paper scraps and trimmings, paper that has been thrown away before it reaches a consumer and paper that has been discarded by the consumer. Manufacturers simply repurpose it and are able to diminish the amount of energy and resources used to make paper.

Premium grade paper still allows users to be eco-friendly, but they are more focused on the idea of delivering brightness for any use. Text printed on premium paper is generally much easier to read. Many premium grades also have a neutral ph level, are acid-free and are chlorine free. These qualities matter for those who may have allergies or who try to live a life with as little unnatural chemical contact as possible.

No matter which paper grade is chosen, it is important to know how the grade was processed and what kind of benefit can be expected when using it. The world has gone digital and many people use electronic communication as a way to be in touch personally and with customers. However, good paper is here to stay.

Even many small and medium businesses use something called a time clock. But what exactly is a time clock? If you have never worked for a company before, you might not have come across the idea of them, but don’t worry, I am here tell you what they are all about.

The principle behind time clocks is simple: employers want to keep track of how many hours their employees actually spend in their workplace. It has really nothing to do with trust, but it is more about knowing how much employees should be paid for their hard work.

If a business owner haven’t visited a Time Clock Store Canada yet, it might be about time for them to do right now. Here are a few reasons time clocks are such a great tool allowing employers to have bigger control over those who work for them.

Increased Productivity
Believe it or not, people get motivated when they know that their performance is measured in some way. If they know that somebody or something is going to track their attendance, they are more likely to arrive to work on time instead of taking their time and pretending that they got stuck in traffic (how many times have you heard this excuse?).
It Is a Huge Help for All Types of Companies
Gone are the days when a company owner had just a pen and a piece of paper at his disposal. Now, thanks to the advancement in technology, business owners can save tons of time by leaving everything in the hands of electrical machines that are designed to track time and attendance. This is also a huge relief to HR departments who have not less work to do, but can shift their focus on more important tasks.

I have given you only a few reasons why time clocks are a such good idea, but there are even many more reasons to have them.

There are a lot of cancer research and studies which are currently being conducted. The studies focus on various medicinal components, including those from known herbal medicines, as well as various diet and exercise. Through various researches, there are concepts and ideas which have bubbled up to the surface. Primarily, that prevention is easier than it was first thought of; that certain cancers can run families; intense exercise can help fight cancer; and diet can both prevent and fight cancer. Of primary importance in diet is the correlation of certain food with specific cancers.

For instance, cancers which are related to the digestive system have a correlation with a high intake of red meat. Another concern is that a cancer patient should only eat a diet which is not only free from items which have a high correlation with cancer, they should eat food which has a correlation with fighting cancer.

Some food which are being studied for their anti-cancer properties include virgin coconut oil, seaweed, fresh fruits and vegetables with high anti-oxidant content, and so on. Of particular interest for some researchers is the sugar intake.